In this month’s Meet Your MAKER, our Account Manager, Gage, gives you a look behind the curtain as he goes through an average day in the office. 

7:30 AM

This is about the usual time I wake up throughout the workweek. Yeah, yeah, I know this is later than my coworkers’ wake-up times from their Day in the Life blogs… mornings are hard for me, okay!

On this particular day, I awake to the pleasant sounds of both several snoozed alarms and one of my girlfriend’s cat’s guttural meows indicating her craving to be fed; the sounds to start a good day ahead!

9:00 AM

I arrive at work following my morning routine, which includes stopping by one of the many nearby coffee shops for a highly caffeinated beverage (cold brew is my poison of choice.) I settle in at my desk, which has several sticky notes reminding me of my to-dos for the day. As I click on my desk lamp (signifying to my team that the Doctor is In), I’m ready to start my day!

9:00 AM -10:00 AM

I kick off each day by checking my calendar for the week ahead and getting organized via Teamwork, our internal Project Management software. As an Account Manager, it’s crucial I work with both my external client contacts and internal team to communicate client requests, answer internal questions, keep projects on timeline, and make sure our work meets (and surpasses) my clients’ expectations. 

I often compare my role to being that of a Quarterback – depending on the “play” (client and client needs), I need to pass the “ball” (the client request, which I translate to “marketing speak” for ease of understanding for my team’s benefit) to one of my Wide Receivers (who might be our Copywriter Taylor, our SEO Manager Austin, a member of the Development/Creative team, etc). Teamwork helps me stay organized to do so! (Thanks for sticking with me through that metaphor.)

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM

Now that I’m organized for the day and week ahead, it’s time for my first round of client communications, as another facet of my daily Account Manager responsibilities includes frequent check-ins with my client contacts across my portfolio. I currently manage 11 clients, who are each in unique industries, and thus each requires unique requests for our team. As you can imagine, my head is on a swivel during this hour as I fire off email after email to my client contacts, which include call agendas, project updates, requests for information, deliverable approval, etc.

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Now, it’s time for our weekly internal Project Status meeting! Although we use Teamwork to stay organized on client requests and projects, as an extra layer of accountability, the Accounts Team hosts a weekly Project Status meeting, during which we discuss projects with all members of the Marketing Team. This is a super helpful meeting for all of the team members to ask questions on requests, understand the flow/dependencies of each of our projects, and forecast capacities in the short term.

12:00 PM

Lunchtime! Much to my wallet’s dismay, I love supporting local restaurants, so I’m thankful to be working here in the River Market where there are so many great options within a short walking distance. Today, I’ll grab a sandwich to-go from the Opera House Cafe, which is the restaurant/coffeehouse underneath our office (I’m pretty sure I keep their lights on down there with my frequent orders).

12:30 PM – 4:00 PM

My afternoons are usually chock-full of client meetings, which we look to have at least bi-monthly (depending on the needs/scope of work with the client, of course.) This is the block of time for me to do what I love, which is building relationships with my clients – I love understanding who my clients are, both personally and professionally, and how MAKE can help accomplish their business’ marketing needs and goals. 

Throughout these meetings, we chat through updates on their existing requests, discuss new requests they’d like to get the ball rolling on, consult on digital marketing best practices, and strategically plan for the weeks/quarters ahead. Based on the emails I sent earlier in the day as well, I tag in the appropriate internal SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) for the conversation too – for instance, if Email Marketing is a topic for today, I’ll have our Email & Marketing Manager, Brandon, queued up to provide guidance and best practices. I love being surrounded by smart brains I can rely on to help provide exceptional value to my clients!

4:00 PM – 5:30 PM

As my day winds down, I use this time to wrap up my “Quarterback” duties for the day. I send out call recaps to my clients, update Teamwork with my clients’ new requests of the day, and plan for tomorrow’s meetings. I connect with my supervisor, Denise, on any questions I have, and see how I can assist with her portfolio’s needs too. She and I make up MAKE’s Account Team, so it’s imperative we support each other across all of our clients!

6:00 PM

With the work day wrapped up, this is the time I typically get home from work – my first to-do is to start cooking dinner! I’m a big Trader Joe’s fan, so I like to whip up one of their quick, healthy meals. My roommate gets home around this time as well, so I often chat with him about his day until he retreats to his room to work on the soft, soothing sounds of his death metal band/side project.

6:30 PM

I use my evening to devote time to my passions and hobbies – one of which is music! I always joke that I spend my “9 to 5” being an Account Manager, while my “5 to 9” is playing guitar and songwriting. Playing music has been a daily practice of mine for over twenty years, and I’ve played guitar in several bands for over a decade now (the roommate I mentioned earlier is also my bandmate!) As such, I try to make sure I get at least an hour of playing one of my guitars every day. Today’s guitar is my Rickenbacker 360/12, my 12-string guitar. Twice the strings for twice the fun!

7:30 PM – 8:30 PM

After my jam, I start to stretch for my exercise for the evening – I’m also a runner! I’m currently training for my first marathon, as I’m looking to run the KC Marathon this fall. I’ve got several half marathons under my belt, but for some reason, I won’t be satisfied until I at least attempt to run 26.2 miles (you know, as a sane person does). 

I’m in the early stages of training now, which has me run 3 to 5 miles each run, roughly five times a week – soon, this will ramp up to 6 to 10 miles each run, and even more from there!

9:00 PM

After my run and shower, I head over to my girlfriend’s place to start our nightly routine. We get some quality time in together, chat about our days, debate which album to listen to on our record player (we’re both vinyl collectors/enthusiasts), and go over the items our destructively cute kitten, Pip, has broken throughout the day. Luckily, today’s damage was only a potted plant – way better than the mirror from last week! We can’t stay mad, though – just look at her!

11:00 PM

That’s my day for today – I love being busy and having a full, busy day, and today was just that. I can’t wait to rinse and repeat tomorrow. Goodnight!